Arianespace Flight 158 with Rosetta: The launch date is delayed by a few days

Arianspace Press Release
December 30, 2002

Evry, France - The inquiry board named by Arianespace, the European Space Agency and France's CNES space agency to investigate the anomaly observed during Flight 157 on December 11 continues to examine the potential impact on preparations for the upcoming mission with Rosetta.

The inquiry board will submit its final report to Arianespace on Monday, January 6, 2003. Until then, the irreversible operations linked to Rosetta's launch have been suspended - which will result in a launch postponement of several days beyond the targeted date of Sunday, January 12.

A new launch date will be announced at the end of the week of January 6, which is to say on Saturday, January 11.